buildSRMSyntax function

Build lavaan syntax for a Social Relations Model with roles ("Family SRM")

Build lavaan syntax for a Social Relations Model with roles ("Family SRM"). This function is called by the fSRM function, but can be also called directly to build an appropriate lavaan syntax.

buildSRMSyntax(
  roles,
  var.id,
  self = FALSE,
  IGSIM = list(),
  drop = "default",
  err = "default",
  means = FALSE,
  diff = FALSE,
  pairwise = FALSE,
  groupnames = NULL,
  add.variable = c(),
  selfmode = "cor",
  noNegVar = FALSE,
  rolesEqual = FALSE,
  ...
)

Arguments

• roles: A vector with all role labels.
• var.id: A vector with the variable names of the DV indicators
• self: Should self-ratings be included in the analysis (if present in the data set)?
• IGSIM: Define intragenerational similarity correlations. Must be a list where the levels of actor.id and partner.id are combined, e.g.: IGSIM=list(c("m", "f"), c("c", "y")). Here "m"other and "f"ather are defined as one generation, and "y"ounger and "o"lder as the other generation.
• drop: In three-member families at least one component has to be dropped. drop defines which one: "none": drop nothing; "family" - drop family effect; "GR" - drop generalized reciprocities; "actor" - drop actor factors and actor-partner covariances; "partner" - drop partner effects and actor-partner covariances; "default": drop nothing in >= 4 members and drop family effect with 3 members. Although usually not necessary, the drop parameter can also be applied to >= 4 member families.
• err: Defines the type of correlations between error terms. err = "no": no error term correlations - this is the required mode for single indicators. err = "all": If multiple indicators are present, correlate same items BETWEEN raters (e.g., Dyadic Data Analysis, Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2000). err = "default": Set err to "no" for single indicators and to "all" for multiple indicators.
• means: Should the structured means of the SRM factors be calculated?
• diff: Compare groups with the delta method?
• pairwise: Compute pairwise comparison of actor and partner means between all roles? Only works when means is also set to TRUE
• groupnames: Vector with the names of the groups (i.e., the values of the group column in the data set)
• add.variable: Not yet fully implemented: Add external variables to the model syntax.
• selfmode: Defines the style how the selfratings are combined with the latent actor and partner effects. If selfmode="cor" they are correlated (as in REFERENCE), if selfmode="kq" the k and q paths are calculated (see Kenny & West, 2010)
• noNegVar: Should variance estimates be constrained to be positive?
• rolesEqual: Maximal constraints: Do roles matter at all? If this parameter is set to TRUE, it is a model with no mean difference, the actor variances equal, partner variances equal, relationship variances equal, and the respective reciprocities equal (Thanks to a suggestion of David Kenny). Model comparisons via anova can show whether roles matter at all.
• ...: Additional arguments (not documented yet)

Details

None.

References

Kenny, D. A., & West, T. V. (2010). Similarity and Agreement in Self-and Other Perception: A Meta-Analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14(2), 196-213. doi:10.1177/1088868309353414